I have never claimed to be the most knowledgeable computer tech on the planet…and I never will. However, what I will promise is that I give my customers the best advice that I can for the topics that I know about and will refer them to the best possible resources for topics outside my scope.
Today, I saw a client who traded some services with another computer tech here in Grand Junction, CO. The other tech reformatted my client’s computer and proceeded to install a copy of Microsoft Office 2000. The copy was not a legal one. My client never paid for Microsoft Office and never received a CD and certificate of authenticity for the software. She was appalled that a "business person" would do such a thing. Unfortunately, this is the second time I ran into a situation like this in less than two weeks. I also happened to talk to a client of mine, recently, who took a class and was "sold" a pirated copy of some software for a substantially reduced price over the retail price of the product.
I’m not perfect and never claimed to be, but I also know that defrauding people is unethical and illegal. The customers in this story are not to blame…they were unaware of the wrong doing. Please be aware of computer techs installing software that may not be legal. Commercial software that is installed should always be accompanied by the original installation CD’s, receipts for purchase, and the certificate of authenticity stickers (if applicable).
